Living Constitution, The: Way of Limiting Power, A
The Framers confined the scope of government to Constitutional grants of power. Authority not granted to government by the Constitution is, in theory, denied to it. The national army is an example of how power was constrained. The powers of governme...
Most Basic of Rights, The: Implied Right of Privacy, The
In 1965 the Supreme Court added privacy to the list of protections, reasoning that the freedoms in the Bill of Rights imply an underlying right of privacy. In succeeding decades that interpretation has led to several controversial decisions like Roe...
American Heritage: Conflict and Political Discourse
Politics is more than the pursuit of shared ideals. It is the way that a society makes its governing decisions. Two major sources of disagreement dominate the political stage: conflict over distribution of scarce resources and differences in values....
American Heritage: Guarding Against Overreaching Power
The federalist system that characterizes U. S. government has different branches that exercise checks and balances on each other in order to prevent any one branch from acquiring too much power. The rule of law embodied by the Constitution also limi...
American Heritage: Who Governs?
The ultimate question about any political system is the issue of who governs. Is power widely shared or closely held? Does it function on the basis of majority rules and minority participation? How can "rational deliberation" be employed as a means ...
Balancing Act: Historical Relationship between the U. S. Government and the Nation's Economy
Government maintained a hands-off policy toward business and the economy for much of its early history. But in the early part of the 20th century it became more involved, breaking up trusts and establishing the Federal Reserve as the central bank fo...
House Divided: Political Debate Over Secession
In a message sent to Congress on July 4, 1861, Lincoln disputes any state's right to secede. The Southern states say they would never have signed the Constitution if they had not believed they could withdraw if faced with a grave injustice. In the m...
The Nation's Welfare: Growth of Welfare Programs in the United States
The Social Security Act of 1935 launched a number of educational and job training initiatives that were administered by the states. Funding was also set aside for individual benefits: food stamps, subsidized housing, and Aid for Families with Depend...
The Nation's Welfare: Beginnings of Social Support in the United States
The fierce individualism that has marked this nation since its inception focuses on hard work and self reliance rather than dependence on the state. Contemporary welfare started in the early 20th century with state programs like the Mother's Pension...